Current Affairs EU In or Out

[spectateur]

.....and therefore uncompetitive. So we can look around elsewhere or even buy our own stuff........

China is bound to have a few nice bargains, we can't make enough of our own stuff. But wait, Donald wouldn't allow that would he.?.

 

[Jebus_lives]

UK must accept US food standards in trade deal, says farm chief

Fears over practices like chlorine-washing chicken are unfounded, says the head of America's farm lobby.

www.bbc.com

Not really new news this, but worthwhile posting. You suspect UK agriculture might take a bit of a hammering. The UK has far more politically invested in a deal with the US than they do with us and negotiating a trade deal with the Trump administration in an election year, doesn't seem like it will be favourable to our demands.

 

[orchard]

Although the following is a brief synopsis stolen from Reddit which doesn't include hundreds of chemicals banned in the eu that are permissable in the us, nor animal welfare considerations, it's not a bad effort.

Are we going to use the new powers and freedom to investigate these discrepancies on a case-by-case basis and establish a rational system with an objective aim in mind? Hahahahhaha, like feck imo


UK vs US
The US has significantly lower standards of animal welfare and food hygiene than the UK, and chlorine washing is a "cheap fix", yet recent tests seem to indicate it's not even effective; incidents of food poisoning in the US are notably higher than in the UK - infact the disparity is quite shocking - sources are reporting figures of circa 14.7% (48m) of the US population vs only 1.5% (1m) of the UK population). That's almost a jump of x10
And beyond chicken it gets far worse ...
One of the other key differences is the use of synthetic growth hormone-loaded animal feed, and chemical-releasing implants in cattle, banned in the EU over cancer-causing concerns. Of course it doesn't end there ...
Take a look at the FDA's own "Food Defect Levels Handbook" (direct link below) which sets out the maximum number of foreign bodies that are acceptable in US food products.
US 'allowable limits for foreign bodies'
Unlike the EU* the US has some 'interesting' allowable limits for foreign bodies in food products. For example, peanut butter can include "insect filth", "rodent filth" and"grit" which includes up to 30 insect fragments in a 100g jar; 3mg of mammalian excreta (typically rat or mouse excrement) is allowed per pound of ginger; and upto 11 rodent hairs are allowed in a 25g container of paprika.
See for yourself:

Food Defect Levels Handbook

Levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods that present no health hazards for humans.

www.fda.gov

Now marry this to the fact that the EUs "country of origin" food labelling laws are among those being repealed by the UK Govt (note: I had a direct link to the official UK Govt docs regarding this but can't find it right now and would appreciate the link again if anyone has it), and it seems like we won't even be permitted to make an informed buying choice once we leave ... not to mention we wouldn't get a choice with school dinners, ready meals or restaurant/takeaway food, anyway.
And then we have the wider subject of how we should limit the cruel treatment of animals in the food chain in the first place.
* I've read that there are no allowable limits for foreign bodies in EU food. I've tried to verify this independently because I didn't trust the source, and didn't want to make any such claim without being more certain. I can't find any docs that suggest there are, but that doesn't mean they don't exist - if anyone can help verify/debunk the claim let me know. I would have assumed some degree of allowable contaminates were allowed!

 

[Bluerover]

Is the government planning on leaving the WTO too then as I'm fairly sure that isn't allowed.

WTO is overall governor of all international trade agreements whether between EU and third countries or between non-EU countries only.

In spite of Trump this also applies to US or they could face sanctions if in breach of WTO rules.

 

[Bluerover]

Although the following is a brief synopsis stolen from Reddit which doesn't include hundreds of chemicals banned in the eu that are permissable in the us, nor animal welfare considerations, it's not a bad effort.

Are we going to use the new powers and freedom to investigate these discrepancies on a case-by-case basis and establish a rational system with an objective aim in mind? Hahahahhaha, like feck imo


UK vs US
The US has significantly lower standards of animal welfare and food hygiene than the UK, and chlorine washing is a "cheap fix", yet recent tests seem to indicate it's not even effective; incidents of food poisoning in the US are notably higher than in the UK - infact the disparity is quite shocking - sources are reporting figures of circa 14.7% (48m) of the US population vs only 1.5% (1m) of the UK population). That's almost a jump of x10
And beyond chicken it gets far worse ...
One of the other key differences is the use of synthetic growth hormone-loaded animal feed, and chemical-releasing implants in cattle, banned in the EU over cancer-causing concerns. Of course it doesn't end there ...
Take a look at the FDA's own "Food Defect Levels Handbook" (direct link below) which sets out the maximum number of foreign bodies that are acceptable in US food products.
US 'allowable limits for foreign bodies'
Unlike the EU* the US has some 'interesting' allowable limits for foreign bodies in food products. For example, peanut butter can include "insect filth", "rodent filth" and"grit" which includes up to 30 insect fragments in a 100g jar; 3mg of mammalian excreta (typically rat or mouse excrement) is allowed per pound of ginger; and upto 11 rodent hairs are allowed in a 25g container of paprika.
See for yourself:

Food Defect Levels Handbook

Levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods that present no health hazards for humans.

www.fda.gov

Now marry this to the fact that the EUs "country of origin" food labelling laws are among those being repealed by the UK Govt (note: I had a direct link to the official UK Govt docs regarding this but can't find it right now and would appreciate the link again if anyone has it), and it seems like we won't even be permitted to make an informed buying choice once we leave ... not to mention we wouldn't get a choice with school dinners, ready meals or restaurant/takeaway food, anyway.
And then we have the wider subject of how we should limit the cruel treatment of animals in the food chain in the first place.
* I've read that there are no allowable limits for foreign bodies in EU food. I've tried to verify this independently because I didn't trust the source, and didn't want to make any such claim without being more certain. I can't find any docs that suggest there are, but that doesn't mean they don't exist - if anyone can help verify/debunk the claim let me know. I would have assumed some degree of allowable contaminates were allowed!

Have a look at

europa.eu/food/safety/chemical_safety/contaminants_en

This can lead to other relevant links including the link on that page re Brexit.

 

[orchard]

Have a look at

europa.eu/food/safety/chemical_safety/contaminants_en

This can lead to other relevant links.

Cheers mate. I read a lot of the stuff a few years ago when the government clawed back devolved powers to facillitate this, although i don't think it was mentioned explicitly, the intent was obvious.
Horrific.

 

[trebilcock66]

.....and therefore uncompetitive. So we can look around elsewhere or even buy our own stuff........

Good luck growing our own lemons or oranges or wine or .....you get the picture.

Fact is that supply chains stretch across Europe and take years to build. Because its more economic to do some manufacturing in say Czech Republic, some UK companies source their goods there. Yes we can do these things ourselves but a)it'll take years to build that kind of capacity and b)we won't be able to do it as cheaply here. Whilst we're building the capacity, we'll either have to continue to buy from EU more expensively or source goods from elsewhere. Asia maybe? Only if we have a Free Trade agreement in place. Otherwise we trade on WTO rules.

Whichever way you look at it, we're worse off out.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Hopefully none of Joe's medicines are on that list. Incidentally, healthcare workers have been sent advanced warning of an especially virulent form of flu coming in from Australia and being told to get vaccinated asap. The general public are supposed to have this available around October time

 

[orchard]

Hopefully none of Joe's medicines are on that list. Incidentally, healthcare workers have been sent advanced warning of an especially virulent form of flu coming in from Australia and being told to get vaccinated asap. The general public are supposed to have this available around October time

Have you found the list?

 

[orchard]

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Have you found the list?

Nope, but it's not new news, as this was published in February. It's just getting to squeaky bum time. You'd hope if your medicine is effected then you might have been informed, but I've no idea to be honest.

Government identifies 7,000 medicines for no-deal Brexit planning

Some 7,000 prescription-only and pharmacy medicines have been subject to government planning for a no-deal Brexit, details on contingency arrangements have revealed.

www.pharmaceutical-journal.com

Btw, below is a bit more on the flu virus likely to occur this winter

NHS warned to act now on Australian flu

The leader of England's emergency care doctors has called for the NHS to take action now to prepare for a possible flu epidemic as Australia battles an early outbreak of the virus.

www.hsj.co.uk

 

[orchard]

 

[nsno-chris]

Although the following is a brief synopsis stolen from Reddit which doesn't include hundreds of chemicals banned in the eu that are permissable in the us, nor animal welfare considerations, it's not a bad effort.

Are we going to use the new powers and freedom to investigate these discrepancies on a case-by-case basis and establish a rational system with an objective aim in mind? Hahahahhaha, like feck imo


UK vs US
The US has significantly lower standards of animal welfare and food hygiene than the UK, and chlorine washing is a "cheap fix", yet recent tests seem to indicate it's not even effective; incidents of food poisoning in the US are notably higher than in the UK - infact the disparity is quite shocking - sources are reporting figures of circa 14.7% (48m) of the US population vs only 1.5% (1m) of the UK population). That's almost a jump of x10
And beyond chicken it gets far worse ...
One of the other key differences is the use of synthetic growth hormone-loaded animal feed, and chemical-releasing implants in cattle, banned in the EU over cancer-causing concerns. Of course it doesn't end there ...
Take a look at the FDA's own "Food Defect Levels Handbook" (direct link below) which sets out the maximum number of foreign bodies that are acceptable in US food products.
US 'allowable limits for foreign bodies'
Unlike the EU* the US has some 'interesting' allowable limits for foreign bodies in food products. For example, peanut butter can include "insect filth", "rodent filth" and"grit" which includes up to 30 insect fragments in a 100g jar; 3mg of mammalian excreta (typically rat or mouse excrement) is allowed per pound of ginger; and upto 11 rodent hairs are allowed in a 25g container of paprika.
See for yourself:

Food Defect Levels Handbook

Levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods that present no health hazards for humans.

www.fda.gov

Now marry this to the fact that the EUs "country of origin" food labelling laws are among those being repealed by the UK Govt (note: I had a direct link to the official UK Govt docs regarding this but can't find it right now and would appreciate the link again if anyone has it), and it seems like we won't even be permitted to make an informed buying choice once we leave ... not to mention we wouldn't get a choice with school dinners, ready meals or restaurant/takeaway food, anyway.
And then we have the wider subject of how we should limit the cruel treatment of animals in the food chain in the first place.
* I've read that there are no allowable limits for foreign bodies in EU food. I've tried to verify this independently because I didn't trust the source, and didn't want to make any such claim without being more certain. I can't find any docs that suggest there are, but that doesn't mean they don't exist - if anyone can help verify/debunk the claim let me know. I would have assumed some degree of allowable contaminates were allowed!

But we’re adopting EU food laws, it’s prescribed into legislation already.

I’ve consulted on it

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Honest question. Would Corbyn support a Jo Swinson led emergency government? I kinda suspect not.

 

[Jebus_lives]

Hopefully none of Joe's medicines are on that list. Incidentally, healthcare workers have been sent advanced warning of an especially virulent form of flu coming in from Australia and being told to get vaccinated asap. The general public are supposed to have this available around October time

Trusts in the country have been told not to release information about their impact analysis with a varying list of reasons why. Much of the discussion has been around informal indication of preparedness as a result of expected FOI requests.

The bizarre thing is that most seem to return analysis, based on a RAG rating, of Amber or green, largely as they don't have the information needed to make a genuinely informed decision about their own preparations - as so much is dependent upon 'Central government' activities.